The year was 1872
When Florence Smith was born
Her father working in the fields
To gather in the corn

And as she lay inside her crib
She fretted and she cried
Too young to know or comprehend
Her mother sadly died

Her father could not raise a child
He knew she had to go
To auntie Jane in Calverton
Who raised poor little Flo

At age fifteen she met a man
Whilst at the village fete
Young Alfred Dingwall was his name
Who walked her to the gate

The courtship was a happy time
That cannot be denied
At age eighteen a radiant Flo
Became his blushing bride

Now Alfred was a coal miner
Entitled to a house
And so he could provide a home
For Flo his happy spouse

In just two years a girl was born
Her short life full of pain
At just three months she passed away
Eliza was her name

When John was born in ’96
Flo knew right from the start
That he would grow to be a man
To capture every heart

For two whole years the baby was
The apple of her eye
He grew to be a happy child
Not often heard to cry

On 3rd of August 1910
Her second son arrived
They say it was a miracle
How David had survived

As time went by and summers passed
The closer they became
But gathering storms in Europe meant
They’d never be the same

Aged 18 and in his prime
John signed to join the War
Poor Flo shed tears of pride and fear
’Til she could cry no more

Two years passed and John stayed safe
Then suddenly was gone
He fell with thousands on that day
At the Battle of The Somme

First her daughter now her son
Both taken from her hand
Poor Flo and Alfred could not take
This blow that fate had planned

Their second son tried very hard
To fill the gap John left
But he and Alfred could not stop
Flo feeling so bereft

As 1918 came and went
The Great War had been won
Yet still the ache in Flo’s sad heart
Persisted for her son

Alfred now was made the boss
His reputation grown
Their new found wealth soon brought them life
That they had never known

Then Flo soon found contentment in
Her need to help the poor
But all too soon came rumblings of
Another crushing war

So it was their second son
Joined up to fight the foe
With aching hearts and nervous smiles
They watched their last boy go

It came too soon, the fateful news
Of how he’d not returned
And how his fellow airmen saw
His plane had crashed and burned

The shocking news had numbed them both
And Flo would not regain
Her zest for life and Alfred knew
She’d never be the same

They lived the last years of their lives
With no joy in their heart
Not speaking once of two great wars
That tore them both apart